ProtectMyID

If you’re mindful of how you and others handle your tax documents and data, you’re on the right track to protecting your identity. But thieves have more ways than you might think to get a hold of the valuable information on your tax returns. Here’s a look at three of the less obvious ways and a few ideas on protecting yourself from them.

1. Digging up data from an old hard drive.
   Data is nearly impossible to wipe from a hard drive. The only sure way to know it’s gone is by physically destroying the device so it’s unusable. Something you can certainly do before you donate or dispose of a personal computer you’ve used to prepare and file your taxes. But what about all of the tax preparers you’ve ever worked with? Or maybe a computer at work you used for tax purposes? Unfortunately, the fate of those computers and the data they retain is out of your hands, but you can always ask your tax preparer or office how they handle computer disposal.    
2. Hacking or snooping into your employee file at work.
   Ideally, you work for a company with strict hiring and data access policies for both physical documents and electronic data. Otherwise, your employee file, including your yearly W2, may be easily accessible to anyone from, say, an unlocked file cabinet. If you’re concerned about the level of data security where you work, bring up the benefits of a data access and protection policy to your boss, office manager or IT department. 
3. Hijacking documents from your mailbox.
   It’s no secret to any of us, including identity thieves, that W2s start arriving in mailboxes in January. Anytime from then until mid to late April is prime time for lifting tax documents and returns out of unsecured mailboxes. Using a locked mailbox, such as a PO box, to receive mail is one way to safeguard your tax documents from thieves. Or, if you’re submitting your return via mail, drop it off at the post office and, better yet, use certified mail.

To be frank, your data is out there, and you can’t always control how well it’s protected. That’s why ProtectMyID monitors continually for the signs of identity theft. However, if you’re worried your tax or other personal data may have been exposed recently or in the past, you may want to review your credit report and scores for reassurance.